The End of All Things
by Charmed225
Summary: 'Ragnarok is not a once-off, end of the world event,' he says, running a hand through his dark hair. 'It is a cycle that repeats itself over and over again. The end of all things, only not really.'


Tony isn't sure why he came here.

OK, that's not true - he knows exactly why he came down here. Curiosity killed the cat, and all that. Locked away is a real flesh-and-blood, God-like being who wields magic in a way Thor has never exhibited. Tony's fingers itch to take Loki apart and find out how he works.

Unfortunately in less than an hour from now, Thor will be taking his troubled younger brother and the Tesseract back to Asgard, and away from Tony's questions mostly likely forever, considering the punishment Loki is bound to be facing. So now, stomach full of shawarma and still riding high from the adrenaline of battle and his near-death experience, he finds himself staring at a young SHIELD agent, standing by the doors to Loki's cell.

'Director Fury said-' the agent squeaks, and Tony waves his hand dismissively in the air.

'Yeah, yeah, the Director said no one should speak to the homicidal god, I'm sure,' he snorts. 'Luckily for me, I'm not one of Fury's stooges…Not a SHIELD agent, not even an Avenger, really. Just a consultant. And between you and me? The pay is pittance. Not worth it. Don't recommend.'

The agent has stopped looking so nervous around him, and instead narrows her eyes. 'I still can't let you in.'

He had guessed that might be the answer, so he just holds up a very useful device that can crack all kinds of passwords, and waits a second until the door clicks open.

'See, you didn't let me in!' he cheerfully reassures the agent, who is already pressing on her radio to hail the good Captain or someone else capable of making better life choices than Tony. He points to her before she can say a word. 'I recommend locking it again behind me.'

Inside, the cell is dark and sparse; the only piece of furniture is the chair upon which the imprisoned Norse god is reclining. His hands are bound in what Thor had explained are magic-blocking shackles, and a metal muzzle hides half his face. Tony isn't sure what information he hopes to glean from this meeting after all. This is all a terrible mistake.

'Just wanted to apologize about the drinks offer,' he says nonchalantly, leaning against the wall. 'I tend to rescind that sort of thing when the guest throws me out the window.'

Loki raises an eyebrow, shifting forwards slightly. Tony is ridiculously pleased to have gotten a reaction from him – any reaction - and shuffles forwards slightly.

'Too bad, Stark,' a voice purrs in his ear. 'We could have had so many interesting discussions over a drink or two.'

An arm snakes across his waist, spinning him around before slamming him against the wall of the cell. Tony grunts in pain, and then freezes as a hand presses against the arc reactor.

'Now you've just invited those damn SHIELD agents to burst in here and act like I'm a damsel in distress,' he forces out, determined not to show fear beyond the hammering of his heart. Loki presses closer, so their bodies are practically touching. Bright green eyes stare at him unblinkingly.

'It's a good thing that all they see is you standing there, talking to a muzzled version of myself then,' the god taunts, flicking his head to indicate the seated Loki. 'Technology is so easy to corrupt.'

Tony takes a deep breath, and then another.

'What's the plan, reindeer games? Were you just lying in wait, to ambush whatever poor sap entered through the door? Or were you hoping specifically for an Avenger to kill? Because let me tell you, I am feeling murderous towards Thor right now for saying those shackles would hold you. So maybe our goals are in alignment at this point in time, and you don't kill me yet?'

Tony feels Loki ease back slightly as he rambles on.

'I was waiting for you,' Loki says, and Tony can almost believe him. 'Whenever you're involved in the cycle, you always come.'

Tony rests his head against the wall with a sigh, fatigue flooding through his body. He shouldn't have come down here. He should have joined the others in one last round of beer, and then waved goodbye to Thor and his problems from a distance. He shouldn't have come down to see the insane God of Lies who had tried to subjugate the world.

'What cycle?' he asks, instead of trying to break free. He never did have much self-preservation.

For the first time, he sees Loki hesitate.

'Have you ever heard of Ragnarok, Tony Stark?' he asks, softly. Tony finally pushes back against him, and Loki allows him to break away and start pacing the cell.

'Sure,' he bites. 'Ragnarok – end of world stuff. I did a bit of mythology reading when I found out you guys were real. There was a really interesting story about you and a horse.'

Loki ignores the jab, and turns to lean against where Tony had been pressed.

'Ragnarok is not a once-off, end of the world event,' he says, running a hand through his dark hair. 'It is a cycle that repeats itself over and over again. The end of all things, only not really.'

'Cool story, but why would I believe you?' Tony snaps. 'And why should I care?'

'Oh, no reason at all,' Loki responds with a small smile. 'I'm just telling you in order to torment you. Let you know that it's coming for us all, and yet no-one will believe you, or believe that this conversation ever took place. I know what you saw through the wormhole, Stark. I know you believe me.'

Tony feels cold dread wash over him. His chest feels tight, and it is difficult to breathe. The smothering darkness of space is suffocating him, seeping into his skin and blocking his airways.

'Take a deep breath,' sounds a voice from far away, and there is a cold hand on the back of his neck. Loki could easily snap it if he wanted to – Tony is human, and frail, and he shouldn't have come down here.

'Why are you really telling me this?' he demands, and it sounds stronger than he feels. Loki draws back once more, and sighs.

'Why not, I suppose. I'm the only one who will remember, when the next cycle comes into play. The void opened my eyes, and now I am cursed to bear witness to the destruction of everything. I die, and then I am placed back in the next cycle, somewhere along the timeline. I am not the hand who brings about the destruction, but surely I must be the first link in the chain. Why else would I be the only one who remembers it all? I suppose…It's nice to make another aware of the same despair.'

Tony narrows his eyes, stalking forwards to ram a finger against Loki's chest, his fear forgotten.

'Seems clear to me that you're playing a rather large part in all of this destruction,' he snarls. 'Perhaps if you didn't bring your issues down to my planet, the whole alien invasion thing could be avoided.'

Loki turns his eyes towards him, but it is as if he is looking through Tony, not at him.

'It is necessary, now,' he offers, with such conviction that Tony almost believes him for a moment, God of Lies or not. 'Each cycle, I am getting closer to learning where the stones are, and how to wield them.'

'Are you saying you're stuck in a time loop?' Tony tries to envision the science behind what Loki is saying. 'Groundhog day or something?'

'No, it is not so simple,' Loki frowns. 'And cycles are so very different. Sometimes, you do not even become Iron Man…you live your life as a drunken playboy, doomed to die an average mortal at the end.'

Tony's heart burns at those words.

'Other times, we become lovers,' Loki continues, staring straight at him now. 'Those cycles always end in the most chaotic destruction.'

'Are we the same people? Each time?' For some reason, this question haunts Tony's mind. 'Or do we cease to exist and another version of us is produced the next time? And when does it end? With your death, no matter? Or when the world is destroyed?'

'Not just your world, Tony Stark. All worlds. And I do not know what happens after my death,' Loki speaks softly.

'I'm not sure I believe you,' Tony tells him. 'I think I would be stupid to do so. And yet…also stupid to ignore you?'

The contemplative look drops from Loki's face, and he smiles brightly at Tony.

'You always were a fool, Stark,' he says, but with a strange fondness. 'I suppose I just…missed this. Ahh sentiments. Useless things.'

'Uh huh,' Tony squints at him. 'Does this mean you aren't going to kill me? Because I think I'd appreciate that. Had enough life-and-death experiences to last me a while. Time I had a bath and dinner and slept, y'know? And if I gave you great sex in another crazy loop, then you should give me a pass here.'

'It's time I left, anyway,' Loki replies, peering towards the door. 'Thor comes, along with your pathetic crew of warriors.'

'Hey now, that pathetic crew of super heroes beat your ass,' Tony objects, even as he stares at a shackle-free Loki. 'Granted, you can now escape as planned, but that doesn't take away the fact that we got you thrown in here in the first place. So ponder that as you poof away.'

'Oh no, Mr Stark,' Loki's tone is difficult to read. 'I'm exactly where I want to be.'

Suddenly, only the Loki in chains remains in the cell. Tony blinks.

'Man of Iron! I heard you were talking to my brother,' Thor's voice booms out as the door slides open. Loki winks at Tony. 'I hope you managed to share your grievances with him in full. Is it not easier when he can't talk back? Alas though, it is now time to return to Asgard.'

Tony watches them leave - Tesseract in hand – with an empty pit in his stomach.

* * *

The sights he witnessed through the wormhole continue to haunt him. The darkness tries to smother him in his sleep, and he can sense something powerful and terrible…watching him.

He builds and builds and builds; trying to create suits that will conquer whatever will try and bring the end of the world. People are worried about him, but they declare that he has PTSD, and refuse to listen to his rantings about an alien invasion.

' _Am I doomed to be Cassandra?_ ' he ponders at some point, and then quickly drowns himself in whatever alcoholic beverage he can find. Firstly, that is the wrong mythology. And secondly…he refuses to be so dramatic about the end.

* * *

'My brother is dead,' Thor tells them on a return visit. He is clearly trying to reassure them, the fragile mortals who had been so besieged by his brother. But Tony can see the heartbreak in his eyes, the tremor in his voice.

'How did it happen?' he asks later, when it is just the two of them. Thor gazes at him a moment, trying to read his expression.

'He died saving me,' comes the response. 'A hero, at the end.'

Tony nods, but thinks: ' _checking out before the end of the world, Loki?'_ He isn't sure he believes the warnings of the Trickster, but that doesn't stop him from wondering if Loki has already woken up in another loop, complete with alternative-Tony. If that is the case, then here, now, he is the only one standing truly between the world and an alien invasion.

* * *

The nightmares continue. Wanda Maximoff fills his head with more images of the alien army, surrounds him with dead and dying friends.

He wants to build armour to protect the world. Instead, Ultron is born, and almost ends it.

He wishes Loki were here beside him.

' _The army still approaches,'_ he would have screamed at the god. ' _Why can't the loop end before the destruction? Why can't we just wake up?'_

The Avengers fall apart, broken by Accords and lies. Tony takes a deep breath, and focuses on helping Rhodey learn to walk again.

'You'll be by my side when we face down the next supervillain who tries to take over from us,' he half-jokes, half-promises his best friend.

* * *

Rhodey is indeed by Tony's side when he is felled by Thanos. A few moments later, there is a burst of power that shoots right through Tony, and he tumbles down, down, down, landing heavily next to his friend's broken body. He crawls closer, reaching out a hand to grasp the fingers of War Machine's suit ( _'It's Iron Patriot, Tony,' Rhodey whines, once upon a time, and Tony just snorts in amusement._ ).

'It's OK, buddy,' he says out loud. 'It'll all be over and then another version of us will have a chance at kicking this mad Titan's ass.'

Thor is down, sprawled on the ground and not moving. Tony had seen the Hulk be disintegrated before his very eyes. Vision had been killed the moment the stone was ripped from his forehead. The numbers against Thanos are dwindling, but it is difficult to care so much when Tony can feel himself dying. He lies down on the ground of this strange planet, pulling off his face mask so he can see the stars, and tries not to think about how Earth is destroyed, his friends all dead. It will all be over soon.

There is a loud screeching sound, and the very planet trembles with the impact of a blast.

'The gauntlet is mine, Thanos,' a familiar voice calls out, and the Titan roars. Tony winces, turning his head slightly to see the final moments of the battle. Before his eyes, Thanos writhes, awash in a bright light. And then…the Mad Titan is no more.

It is oddly silent in the following moments. Tony imagines that is because the dying are now dead, and there is no-one left to make a noise.

'Rumours of your death have been greatly exaggerated,' he rasps, as loud as he is able. A dark figure, the only one moving amongst the scattered bodies, rises from its crouch at Thor's side.

'Tony Stark,' Loki says, looking down at the broken Iron Man suit, and the blood seeping from the cracks. 'I cannot save you. It's time to end this instead. I have the gauntlet now.'

He stands tall, one hand encased in the golden gauntlet, inset with five Infinity Stones.

'So what, you wanted all this destruction? So you could have your power and rule over…what exactly? The end of worlds has happened, Loki. There's barely anyone left to rule.'

He's now feeling slightly light-headed, but tries to focus on the face above him. Anger gives him the extra strength needed.

'I don't want this destruction,' Loki snarls. 'I never wanted to use the gauntlet to destroy things. No, it is merely going to…unmake existence. Much more permanent than mere destruction.'

'And infinitely worse!' Tony feels the indignation well up inside him, dying be damned. 'Why the hell do you want to unmake the universe? I think we were doing pretty well before Thanos here decided to fuck everything up.'

He doesn't realize he is struggling to sit up, despite his wounds, until a hand presses on his chest gently.

'Not all existence, fool,' Loki tells him. 'Just mine. Once I am unmade, the cycles will end. It always starts with me…so it shall end with me too.'

'Are the loops really so bad that you won't go back and try again, this time with a little less destruction before you kill tall and purple over there?' Tony managed to prop himself up on an elbow, ignoring the searing pain of metal impaled in his stomach. Loki looks at him in surprise.

'You…know about the cycles?'

'Well our conversation in the cell was a little difficult to forget, I admit,' Tony attempts a smile, but it comes out as more of a grimace. 'I didn't want to believe you, but…here we are.'

Loki narrows his eyes, moving to kneel down next to him instead of looming over.

'We didn't have a conversation in the cell,' he tells Tony, his voice flat. 'Not this time…not in a long time.'

They stare at each other for a minute, and then Tony collapses back down again.

'Well, would you look at that? Seems like I'm remembering some of them myself,' he twists his head to one side, so he can continue to look at Loki in the face.

' _I am not CUTE,' Loki scowls, crossing his very-blue arms. Tony laughs, darting forwards to steal a kiss from his cold lips._

' _OK, I promise not to call you a cute Smurf any more,' he says, between fits of laughter. 'As long as you stop that pouting!'_

'We had a relationship,' Tony remembers. 'You were blue. At least for some of it. And cute too.'

Loki frowns, but Tony just presses on.

'The nightmares I had about the alien army…Guess those were actually memories. No wonder they haunted me so much. We've been here before, right? Battling Thanos?'

'It always ends up back here,' Loki says with a sigh, his head dropping slightly in exhaustion. 'No matter what I try, I cannot get the infinity gauntlet and the stones before Thanos does…Any method I've attempted ends up the same or worse than this scenario. At least here, I know his fight with all of you distracts him long enough for my attack.'

'This doesn't seem like an ideal point to stop the cycles, I've gotta say,' Tony shrugs the shoulder he can still feel.

'If I reset the cycle, I'll no longer have the gauntlet,' Loki argues. 'It needs to end here. I erase myself, and it should stop, finally. I'll have peace.'

Tony lies still for a moment, and then gathers enough energy to raise an amour-encased hand and pat Loki's knee.

'You're incredibly egotistical,' he tells the god. 'In believing the entire universe rests on your shoulders. Selfish too.'

Loki huffs slightly in exasperation.

'What would you have me do, Tony? I cannot find another way out of this nightmare by myself. It seems connected to me.'

'I'm not sure, but I do know I'm skeptical of your role of Harbinger of Doom. Hell, maybe you're the one who remembers because you're supposed to save us all.'

'I am no hero, Stark,' Loki shakes his head. His hand is now holding Tony's, and it's quite nice.

'Yeah, well…neither am I, for the most part,' he tells the god, wincing as he feels the metal shift inside him again. 'I'm remembering, though. You have to have a little bit of faith in me. Find me, talk to me. Keep resetting the cycle, until I remember early enough that we can convince the team of the dangers, and work together. Maybe you keep failing because you're trying to do this alone. You don't get to go for the easy option out yet. Finish the destruction and we can try again.'

Loki stands, backing away far enough that Tony struggles to keep watching his face.

'Hey Loki?' he calls, his voice almost failing him this time. 'You said we were lovers, in some cycles, right?'

'I loved you, one time,' Loki replies, his tone emotionless. His green magic is gathering around him like a deadly fog.

'I think I could learn to,' Tony confesses, his mind clinging to faint memories. Loki snorts, and looks down at him.

'Sentiments,' he says, his lip curling in a sneer, and the gauntlet explodes.

* * *

Tony wakes with a start, his heart beating fast.

'Good morning, sir,' Jarvis informs him. 'Another nightmare?'

He rubs his hands across his face briefly, and then tries to relax back into the pillows.

'Yeah, more dreams about aliens and sparkly rocks, and Nordic gods…Very science fiction-y. Maybe I should start a dream diary, and get it published: "The Diary of Tony Stark: Be Afraid of the Inner Workings of His Mind".'

'No doubt, sir. The time is 6:17am. I would like to remind you that you have the missile test in Afghanistan today, so you will need to be ready to go to your plane early. Shall I start preparing breakfast in the meantime?'


End file.
